Music, food + brews—why 1K people celebrated coastal lands this weekend

It was a packed house at the Weeks Bay Reserve Tonsmeire Resource Center as a thousand folks enjoyed an afternoon of fun, food, music + drinks, all supporting Coastal Alabama’s ecosystem. Keep reading for the lowdown on the event and how the money helps the South Alabama Land Trust (SALT) preserve our coastal lands.

RECAP: Bald Eagle Bash 2024

The Bald Eagle Bash was hosted this past weekend in Fairhope. Executive Director of SALT, Jane Herndon, tells me 1,000 people attended—including volunteers, SALT staff + sponsors.

The bash included free samples of delicious Baldwin County restaurant staples like The Hope Farm, Dragonfly Food Tavern and Punta Clara Kitchen. Included in your admission were four drink tickets to quench your thirst from local favorites like Fairhope Brewing Co. and Braided River Brewing Co. The Mobile-based Dial Street Band brought the tunes.

The highest bid item at Saturday’s auction was a $3800 trip to France. I’d also like to give an honorable mention to the autographed vintage Antonio Tsai acoustic guitar, which went for $750. Organizers are still tallying totals, but estimate this year’s Bald Eagle Bash earned $20K more than years past.

About South Alabama Land Trust

The South Alabama Land Trust, or SALT, was founded in the ’90s to preserve the incredibly biodiverse ecosystem found on Alabama’s coastline. In its 30 years, the group has worked to preserve and restore almost 11,000 acres of critical land to our coastline.

And it’s not just the beach, SALT works with landowners with any waterways (creeks, rivers, ponds, etc.) on their property to ensure that land remains a viable habitat for the plants and critters that call Coastal Alabama home.

If you want to learn more about SALT’s mission, you can find it here.

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